House Republican has held more hearings on aliens than global warming

(Getty/Mark Wilson)

House Republican has held more hearings on aliens than global warming
(Image credit: (Getty/Mark Wilson))

Emma Roller at National Journal has crunched the numbers, and it's true.

The House Science, Space, and Technology Committee — led by Rep. Lamar Smith (R-Texas) since 2013 — has held 15 hearings on space exploration alone, at least three of which have involved the search for extraterrestrial life. By comparison, Smith's committee has held just two hearings devoted to climate change. [National Journal]

In case it wasn't clear, Smith is something of a climate change skeptic. And while his colleagues in the Senate haven't exactly been tearing up the upper chamber with hearings on the greatest existential threat facing mankind, antipathy toward investigating the issue is particularly prevalent in the GOP-controlled House.

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Ryu Spaeth

Ryu Spaeth is deputy editor at TheWeek.com. Follow him on Twitter.